NEW YORK -- It might not sound like that big of a deal, but Starbucks has rolled out the latest edition of what has become a tradition -- its holiday cup designs.

Don't look now, but the holidays are almost upon us. And one way to tell, besides colder days and holiday decorations going, will be the colorful cups. Starbucks is bringing them on in a bid to spread some holiday cheer and to ring up sales.

Starting Thursday. the Seattle-based coffee giant will begin serving its beverages in one of 13 “distinct cups” created by artists from around the world.

Paper cups aren't usually the kind of thing that instill customer loyalty, but Starbucks has learned the hard way. When the company came out with its green pre-holiday cup last week, the Internet was outraged. Thinking it was a replacement for the famous red cup, users took to Twitter to voice their complaints. The uproar even made it into a segment on CBS' The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

"The holidays don't start until you've had your first red cup at Starbucks, " says Nancy Poznoff, Starbuck's vice president of marketing

The new cups are a twist on Starbucks usual red cup holiday design which feature a red background behind the Starbucks logo.

After last year’s red cups inspired customers to draw on them, the company launched an Instagram campaign looking to encourage people to share their work with the world. In just eight days 1,200 designs poured in from 13 different countries. The company took 13 submissions and made them into this year’s cup collection, company officials say. The cups will be offered in all 25,000 Starbucks locations around the world.

In addition to releasing the red cups on Thursday, the company will also be launching its annual "buy one, share one" promotion where those that buy a drink between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. will get a second one free. The promotion will run through Monday.